Functional Dairy Products

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Milk and dairy products have been part of the human diet for thousands of years, playing an important role in the nutrition and development of human populations throughout the world. Twenty-first century consumers, however, are looking for benefits beyond nutrition in their foods, choosing those that provide wellness, convenience, and improved health besides basic nutrition. In this context, the development of functional dairy products is an area of important expansion in the dairy industry, where hundreds of new products are developed each year, constituting one of the largest sectors in the global market of functional foods. Among the main principles employed in the formulation of functional dairy products, addition of probiotic microorganisms and prebiotic fibers are some of the most popular, although the use of phytosterols, conjugated linoleic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, minerals, and bioactive peptides is increasing in popularity as a means to deal with health problems that go from simply maintaining gastrointestinal health to controlling hypertension, reducing cholesterol, and enhancing immune system response, among many other health concerns. There is still a long way to go in the development of novel functional dairy products. It is expected that the global functional dairy market will keep growing in coming years, throwing a challenge that will have to be faced through collaboration between academia and industry, hopefully resulting in the development and discovery of many new functional principles.